Pawns of Darkness
by MeGoFaNiMe
Summary: A dark force is slowly killing off the digidestined. The prophecies have foretold that the one to carry courage will stop this evil. Which digidestined will survive this heartwrenching ordeal? Which of them have turned their souls over to the evil betraye


A/N: This fic takes place in 02, before Ken was a good guy. Please don't take any of this fan fic personally, some of your favorite characters may turn out to be bad, but this was the way the story worked out, and I have nothing against these characters. Well, except Matt. He's definitely the exception. But who says that Matt is a bad guy anyway? You'll have to read and see. This was another one of Zeratul's ideas, written by me. Enjoy!   
Oh yeah, be sure to check out my other stories. Just search for MeGoFaNiMe  
on fanfiction.net under authors. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE REVIEW!  


  
Pawns of Darkness  


  
The chirping of birds could be heard from the campus of Odaiba High School. Crowds of kids walked towards the entrance of the building, socializing with their friends along the way.  
"Wow, Mimi! Your hair is so pretty!" a girl in a short, blue skirt exclaimed, eyeing Mimi's hair with a jealous look "It's always so perfect!"  
"Really? Thanks, Matsuri, I thought that the pink might look good!" Mimi said, voice high-pitched, as always.   
Matsuri let out a sigh of relief "Thank goodness you're back from America, there's been no one to start new fashion trends since you've been gone."  
"It's a hard job, but someone has to do it, right?" said Mimi, giving a little giggle. She closed her eyes for a moment, continuing to walk towards the school. "It's good to be back home, now I can be with my boyfriend, Jo- OW!"   
Mimi bumped into someone, then fell.   
"Owwww," she whined, rubbing her back where she had fallen "what in the hell was that for?! Now my new skirt is all ruined!"   
"Sorry." a deep voice apoligized sincerely, "but it's good to see you haven't changed, Mimi."  
Mimi temporarily stopped whining to look up. Joe stood in front of her, smiling.   
"I should be glad, you're my girlfriend! That is...unless you met someone in New York..."  
She got up quickly and hastily brushed herself off.   
"Uh, hello Joe! Sorry I wasn't looking where I was going..." she said, embarassed.  
"Avoiding the subject of a new boyfriend?" he said, raising an eyebrow in question.  
"Oh no, there's no one else! You're the only one for me, Joe!" she said genuinely, snuggling close to him. Joe's face turned a deep crimson.  
"It's almost time for homeroom, we better get to class." he said, trying to walk with Mimi hanging on to his arm.  
"Okay!" she said, cheerily "let's go go go!!"   
A pair of amber eyes watched the couple from a distance.  
"Damn that ditz, Mimi!" the person hissed "everything was fine until she came back. I thought she was gone for good when she went to America, but she has returned! She will not take my Joe away from me, SHE WILL NOT!" the amber eyes squinted in the darkness of the room "I'm going to have to change my tactics."   
  
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A dark shadow watched the amber-eyed figure from a security camera.   
"Ah yes..." the thing smiled "yes, my soldier, anger is the key to killing. Let the blood rage fill you and prepare you for the bloodspill to come. The one to carry courage will not defeat me, for I manipulate the mind and the soul." the shadow said, amusement in his voice "and when the first murder is complete, the digidestined will no longer be safe."   
It laughed insanely, fingering a small figure on the table, almost like a doll. The figure was one of eight; eight figures in the shape of eight digidestined. The figure was that of Mimi Tachikawa.  
  
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Mimi stretched and yawned. She couldn't wait for Joe to come over.  
"Honestly! Why can't Matt remember anything?! Mr. Hayashi assigned work from our History book, so doesn't it make sense to bring the book home?! And Matt calls _me_ ignorant! It's a good thing Joe's bringing him, I didn't want to have to drive him back. And why am I talking to myself? It doesn't do any good. Maybe I'm just lonely, that's all, I'm just lonely..."  
She flopped down on the bed, sighing.   
_They're already an hour late,_ she thought, _What if they got into a car accident or something? Nah, Joe's a paranoid driver, I bet he didn't even take the freeway...  
_With these thoughts, she drifted into a deep sleep.   
  
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"Enjoy life while you can, Mimi. You won't have that luxury for long."  
  
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The door slowly creaked open, bringing a gust of cold, numbing wind into the room.   
Mimi woke with a start.  
The old fashioned clock read 11:57 PM.   
"Who's there?" she asked, fear rising into her voice "whatever you're selling, I don't want it!"  
The amber-eyed figure emitted a harsh, rasping cackle.  
"This is no time for jokes, Tachikawa. Do you know who I am?"  
"Joe?" she whispered "this isn't funny, Joe!"  
"Not Joe, you damn idiot!" the thing yelled "I am only your worst nightmare."  
The figure stepped from the dark hallway into the lamp light.  
"Yolei?!"  
"Yes, I am Yolei." she said, smiling "and I am here to send you to hell."  
"But, why?"   
"Those were stupid last words, Mimi. The answer is right under your nose: Joe. He was mine! MINE! You had to come back here and ruin it!"  
Yolei pulled a gun from her pocket and aimed it at Mimi, grinning like a madwoman.  
"Die, bitch."  
Yolei fired, embedding four bullets into Mimi's chest.  
And the clock chimed twelve o' clock.  
  
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"One down, seven to go." the black shadow said, throwing the Mimi figure into the fire in front of him. The orange flames licked hungrily at the unexpected treat. "Only seven more to go."  
  
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"Joe! Hurry up! Mr. Hayashi's assignment is due tommorow! STEP ON IT!" Matt yelled.   
Joe winced "Jeez, Matt, you don't have to scream in my ear! And anyway, I banged on your door for three hours, you were the one who was sleeping!"  
Matt slumped back in his seat. "Sorry, Joe. I just get frustrated sometimes, you know? High school's a full time job, _plus_ I have band practices and all..."  
"Don't worry, Matt, I understand. I just hope that Mimi answers her door, I don't want to have to wait _another_ three hours!"  
Matt looked at Joe, thunderstruck. Joe turned pink under Matt's gaze. "What?! Why are you staring at me?!"  
"Joe, I think you actually have a sense of humor!"   
"Shut up!"  
They sat in silence, Joe trying to control his anger, and Matt trying not to laugh, as they pulled into the driveway of Mimi's home. The moon shone bright and full in the dark sky.  
An owl hooted as Joe stepped up to the 'welcome' doormat and pushed the doorbell. Nothing but silence came from the dark house. Matt pushed it again. Still, no movement was heard or seen. He tried the door. It slowly creaked open, revealing a dark hallway in front of them. Joe gulped in fear.   
"Matt, something doesn't feel right here. Why would Mimi leave her door open?"  
"Maybe she fell asleep or something, let's go in already, I still have to finish the assignment!"  
They tiptoed in almost instinctively, somehow feeling it was right. The darkness in the house was almost suffocating.  
"It's so dark in here," Joe said, squinting "maybe I better turn on a light,"  
His eyes fell upon Mimi's figure, laying on the bed. "but I don't want to wake Mimi up..."  
"Aw, c'mon man, she has to wake up anyway! There's no way I could find the book in this light!" Matt said, nonchalantly, giving the light switch a flick. Joe looked at Mimi and screamed. She wasn't asleep.  
"Joe, you scream like a girl! What's wron-" Matt suddenly stopped his teasing, his eyes falling upon Mimi's corpse. "Oh my god. Oh my GOD!"  
Joe sank to the floor, sobbing. His love had been shot, four times, directly in the heart. Blood was flowing freely from her wounds, drenching the bedsheets in red. Her eyes were wide open, face in an expression of a horrible mix of shock, pain, and betrayal.  
Matt swallowed the scream that was rising in his throat as he moved towards the dead body. He felt her hand. It was warm."This must've happened recently," he said, averting his eyes from the scene before him. He looked at the clock. It read twelve-ten. "not more than a few minutes ago, actually."   
Joe continued his crying, hands covering his face, shaking his head back and forth. Matt moved to the phone to call the police, until something shiny, on Mimi's right side, caught his eye. He slowly grabbed the object, and inspected it under the poor lighting of the lamp.   
It was a gun, sleek and sliver.   
He picked up the phone and dialed:   
Nine one one.  
  
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Joe checked his gun. It was loaded. Good.   
His blood was boiling. How could she? How could she kill Mimi? She had always been so nice and kind, he would have never guessed it would be her.  
He checked the address of the house. It was the right place.  
The police had labeled the gun near Mimi as evidence. It was obvious that Mimi hadn't killed herself, that possibility had been ruled out from the start. After examining the ID and fingerprints on the gun, the suspect had been identified. The killer had been Yolei Inoue.  
Joe entered the large apartment, senses alert, eyes scanning every shadow. Tonight would be the night of the murderer's death. Mimi would be avenged.  
Adrenaline rushed through Joe's body as he saw a figure slowly move in the darkness of the windowless room. He took aim, and shot, bringing the figure to the ground. He ran over to the body to gloat over his victory. He picked up the figure, only to find that he had killed his very own ally, and friend. He had killed Matt Ishida. Matt's eyes were misted over in death; in his limp hand, a gun hung. It seemed that Matt had come to take revenge as well. Joe dropped Matt in horror at what he had done. He was no better than Yolei now. Matt had been as close to him as anyone else on the team, and now he had killed him in cold blood. Was that a sin? Would he be punished? He had killed a friend. He would never be able to forgive himself. Never.   
  
Joe heard footsteps coming across the hard, wooden floor towards him. He turned to face the door, bringing his gun up and clicking it into place.  
Yolei's dark sillouette appeared in the doorway. She flicked on a dim, yellow light and gave a serene smile. "I knew you'd come for me, Joe."  
"You!" he hissed "you were the one who killed Mimi!"  
"No, I didn't."  
"Yes you did! You have blood on your hands!"  
"So does the executioner's axe, but it does not wield itself."  
"What do you mean?"  
She gave a knowing smile, "I am simply a tool. A tool of the great dark one."  
"Don't try to talk your way out of this one, Inoue! You killed Mimi! Don't expect me to let you go!" he yelled, chest heaving with fury.   
"No, _duh_!" Yolei said, a bit of her old self showing through "why do you think I left the gun, right by the body I killed? Do you think I'm that ignorant? Joe, my life is not worth living without you. I tried my hardest to win you, I really did, but that bitch Mimi always got in my way. So I figured: 'if I'm going, she's going down with me.'."  
Joe's face drew into a satisfied smirk, aiming the cold instrument of death at her heart. "Then go already."   
He pulled the trigger.   
  
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The dark shadow slammed his fist to the table, making the figures of the digi-destined shake.   
"Damn! Another minion gone! I knew that Yolei's heart would bring her to her death. She was too soft to be one of my disciples. But that has no matter..."  
He grinned and broke the neck off of Matt's figure.  
"I still have others in my clutches."  
  
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The digi-destined gathered at the Odaiba cemetary, mourning the death of their close friends. Sora clutched Tai's sleeve for some unseen comfort, tears forming in her eyes. They all huddled in a group, warming themselves from the cold winter air. Izzy stood alone, breath coming out in clouds of steam, an enraged look in his eyes. His hands balled into fists, he stood stiff. He stared down at Matt's tombstone, fury overwhelming him, the look of a madman in his eyes. He shot a piercing glare towards Joe's back. His suffering was all Joe's fault. He would have his vengence soon.   
Very soon.  
  
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The dark shadow chuckled at the rage emitting from Izzy's small body. Hate was a restoring feeling. It gave purpose to life. That was what he taught.   
His newest student was now using that feeling to his advantage. He congratulated himself on his teaching skills as he took the Joe doll from the table.  
"I'd watch my back if I were you, Joe," he said, "Little Izzy is an expert on killing."  
  
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RING RING!  
Joe's cellphone rang. The people in front of him turned around a shushed, telling him in heated whispers that they were 'trying to concentrate on their class'. Joe scurried outside of the classroom to answer the persistant machine.  
"Hello?"  
"Hi, Joe, it's Izzy. We need to talk,"  
Joe smiled at the familiar, friendly voice. "Sure, Izzy, I'd love to talk. When?"  
"When does your class end?"  
"I'd say..." Joe checked his digital watch. "in about half an hour at the most."  
"Okay, then I'll meet you at the abandoned theatre on Sakura street. It'll be nice and quiet there," Izzy gave a small laugh, lowering his voice to a menacing whisper "nice and quiet."  
The phone suddenly went dead. Joe stared at it in confusion. Why did Izzy want someplace quiet? He shrugged it off as something unexplained. People always had mood swings. That was something he had learned through experience.   
  
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Joe shuddered and rubbed his numb arms. It was cold in this place, and it gave him the creeps. He looked around at the abandoned theatre. Tattered, red, satin curtians hung from an impossibly high stage. He remembered seeing musicals here when he was little. Just thinking about his childhood brought a smile to his face, despite the tragedies that had just recently occured among the digidestined team. He tried to shake the memories of the deaths from his mind.   
"It's all over now," he reassured himself, "it's all ove-"  
He stopped abruptly in his sentence to clutch at his chest. Blood spurted out from between his fingers. It dripped down his legs into puddles near his feet. He slowly took away his blood-stained hands to find a large bullet hole in his chest. He gasped for breath, frantically searching for the gun-holder. He turned to face Izzy. He wore a huge smirk as Joe went down on his knees.   
"Did you really think you'd get away with it, Joe? Did you really?"  
Joe inhaled deeply, trying to filter oxygen from the air. "Get...away...with what?" he gasped.  
"Why, killing Matt, of course! Matt. My one true love. True, I had admired him from a distance, but with this, my passion only grew stronger. I had plans, Kido. Big plans for my life with him. But you ruined it. Now, you die under my gaze, just as he died under yours."  
He smiled at Izzy. "You have only made me happier. Now I may join Mimi."  
Joe took one last breath, then died. Izzy began a long, throaty laugh that was suddenly cut short. He fell to the ground, a knife protruding from his back. His gun skittered across the floor, to the feet of one behind him. Cody stood in front of the gun, face a cold mask of fury. Izzy turned to look at him.  
"I have always looked up to you, Izzy," he began, "but now I see that you are just a crazy bastard, hiding underneath a suit."  
"How'd you know I was here?" Izzy asked.  
"I saw you follow Joe with your gun and I knew something was wrong. I'm going to stop the killing, by killing you. Now you're going to die for your crimes. You're going to die by your own gun." Cody picked up the small handgun from his feet, clicking it into place. Despite the circumstances, Izzy continued his laugh, his warm, fresh blood rapidly spilling onto the floor.  
"Do you really think that by murdering me, that the killing will end? Think again! I work for a greater evil. I am simply his pawn. But I must say: I have enjoyed playing his little game." he tried to laugh once more, but liquid filled his throat, allowing him only a gurgle, before drowning in his own blood.  
  
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"My last student destroyed?! It's not possible!" the shadow screamed, "I still have all of those digidestined to eliminate!" He seethed in frustration, throwing the Joe doll into the trash can. He suddenly stood up from his chair.  
"If you want something done right-," he said, slowly calming his voice "-you have to do it yourself."  
He squeezed two more dolls in his hand. The dolls of Taichi Kamiya and Takeru Takaishi.  
  
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Sora, Tai, Kari, and T.K sat in silence. The snow fell upon them, numbing their limbs and worsening their spirits. Their numbers were slowly falling. Everytime anyone looked at another, they always wondered the same thing: who would be next?   
They were all sitting here as bait. Bait for the killer. Their plan was to get rid of her now, before she could kill anymore. They were supposed to be on a picnic, to make the killer's guard go down.  
Tai fingered the gun in his inner jacket pocket, as did Sora. Kari held a knife in her hand, conealed by the hat she put over it. It was hard to pretend to have fun when you knew that death for you, or any of your friends, was near. Their nervous eyes darted around, checking each other's backs. They even eyed each other suspiciously. Izzy and Yolei had been a part, couldn't anyone else? Tai thought for a moment.  
Davis. Come to think of it, Davis had been on a trip with his family to Hawaii for a month, and was due to come back yesterday. Could he be hiding something? What was he up to?  
Cody certainly was suspicious enough. He was the only one who escaped from that theatre alive, maybe he lied to them about Izzy being evil. Maybe he was, in fact, the evil one.  
Kari. Kari was shy, and never spoke her feelings. Not much, anyway. She was his own sister, but maybe she had been hiding under his nose all of the time!   
T.K. The only person that Kari confided in nowadays way T.K. Maybe they were in this together. They were always alone, talking. Perhaps planning, or scheming.  
Sora. Beautiful Sora. So kind and delicate. It was difficult for Tai to think of her as the monster who had infiltrated the digidestined. But everyone had to be suspected. Everyone. Maybe this kind exterior was used as a cover up to make him think exactly the way he just had.  
  
Tai sighed in frustration. It was impossible to tell. Everyone was suspicious in their own way. He was probably even suspicious to them.   
"I'm thirsty, Sora, let's get a drink from the vending machine." Kari said, breaking the uncomfortable silence.  
"Good idea," Sora said, relieved to get away from the pressured area "you boys stay here, Kari and I will be right back."  
"'Kay," said T.K "be sure to get me a prune juice, I wanna see what the big deal is, Cody's so obsessed with it!"   
Kari gave a smile giggle. "Okay, silly. I'll get you one."   
They walked off across the busy street together.  
Tai leaned back against the bench, raising his eyes towards the bare tree. A single blue jay rested upon it's branches, chirping gaily. He closed his eyes, feeling the light snow come to rest upon his face.   
A scream of agony rang in his ear drums. His eyes quickly snapped open to search for the source of the scream. They came to rest upon the body of T.K, his stomach slashed open, insides spilling out onto the snow-covered ground. Blood fell from the gaping hole, staining the ground crimson, slowly spreading across the once white snow. His face was frozen in an expression of pain. Tai quickly twirled around, seeking the face of the attacker. Left/ Right. Left. Right. He was no where to be seen! The snow started to fall harder, imparing his vision even more. Right. Left. Right again. Then, suddenly. The murderer's face was before him.  
"Davis." Tai hissed through his teeth. This was the boy. The boy who brutally murdered his friends. The friends he knew and worked with. Looked up to and played with. He was the betrayer.   
"Why, it's nice to see you again, Taichi. How long has it been? Two weeks? Three? Ah, who keeps track of things like that anyhow? Have you enjoyed my little pawns? My pawns of darkness? Let's see, there was Izzy, and Yolei, did I forget anyone? I tricked their minds into thinking that you were the enemy." Davis said, in almost a friendly tone.  
"What do you want from me?!"   
Davis smirked in triumph. "Why, isn't the answer obvious? I want power. Complete control over all of the existing worlds. And you are the only thing in my way."  
"But...why?"  
"The prophecies have foretold that the one to carry courage will stop the world's destruction by the darkness. You are the carrier of courage, and I am the darkness. Get the picture?"  
Before Tai could move a muscle, Davis was in front of him. He inched his face closer to Tai's. "What _I_ want is- your life," he whispered. The silver knife glittered in his hand. "And I _always_ get want I want."  
Tai lunged for Davis, fitting his hands around his neck, using all of his strength to try to choke the air out of Davis' body. Davis brought the knife deep into Tai's thigh muscles, scraping the bone as he dragged the knife down to his kneecap.   
He slashed deep into Tai's chest with the long, sharp knife, breaking his rib cage, almost touching his heart. Tai let out an unearthly scream. The beating muscle quickened it's pace, now exposed to the light of the world. Davis reached his hand into Tai's chest, grabbing his heart and wrenching it out of his body. He smiled as he felt the attached veins snap and he pulled even harder. The heart slowed it's beating as he brought it up to his face, tightening his grip on it. Blood squeezed out of it, dripping, further coloring the snow below them.   
"Goodbye, Taichi Kamiya." Davis whispered. Tai shuddered, his eyes rolling up into his head, going to his death. The hope for the digidestined, and of the worlds, disappeared with his last breath.   
  
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"Tai," Sora sobbed over his corpse, putting her hands over her face. Kari and she had been too late. By the time they had come back, Tai and T.K were already gone. All that remained was she, Kari, and Cody. She knew that they would slowly be killed off, it was unavoidable. Besides, it didn't matter whether she lived or died. Tai was gone, and that was the one highlight of her life, her reason for living. The end of the world was just beginning.  
  
  


~ * When love is gone, some give up hope. Hope and love are the things that keep us alive. This can result in total failure. This is the way of life, and life is not always fair. * ~   


  
  
  
  
  



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